Item and total printing mechanism for calculating machines



July 14, 1953 R. GOURDON ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES mad Oct. 5. 1950 i6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR- Robert Lon (tour-don BY A TORNEY July 14,- 1953 R. GOURDON LETEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES 16 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 3, 1950 INVENTOR N Robert bn- Gro'urdoh BY-IQAWVQO AT roR NE'Y July 14, 1953 4R. L. GOURDON 2,545,419

mm mm mm. PRINTING uECHANIsu FOR CALCULATING MACHINES- 16 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Qct. 3, l9 50 INVENTOR R0 bev- L60 Crovrdan ATTOR NE) July 14, 1953 R. GOURDONN ITEII AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES 16 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 5. 1 950 NM mm uvzufon; Robert Lon G urd. on By i -y M ATTORNEY July 14, 1953 R. GOURDON ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES 1e sheets-sheet 5 Filed Oct. 3. 1950 n v Q E m w u R a w T R M OLLW t NT e Y mRB July 14, 1953 R. L. GOURDON ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed 061'.- 3, 195 0 16 Sheets-Sheet 6 m NmN MRS vGSN INVENTOR Robert Le'oh (four-Jo m W ATTOPMEY y 1953 R. I... GOURDQN 2,645,419

ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 3. 1950 16 Sheets-Sheet 7 Robert Lo-n Gourdd h ATTOR NEY July 14, 1953 R. L. GOURDON ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING mamas is Sheets-Sheet a- Filed Oct 3 1.950

V w E J N r M u .0 0 G T WW T R1! A K N9 Wb 0 m om ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 3, 1950 July 14, 1953 R. L. GOURDON l6 Sheets-Sheet 9 IN van-roe A R0 bcrt L na G'ourd'qn ATTORNEY- July 14, 1953 R. L. GOURDON 2,345,419

ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 3, 1950 v 16 Sheets-Sheet 10 INVENTOR Robert Lnv G ar-don B MW ATTORNEY July 14, 1953 R. L. GOURDON ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 3, 1950 16 Sheets-Sheet ll INVEN'TOR RObeY't Lom (rouvdoh ye g ATTORNEY July 14, 1953 I R. L. GO URDON 2 645,419

ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 3, 1950 16 Sheets-Sheet 12 I NVE N TO 9 Rflbq t banG- ard u ATTO R NE Y R. L. GOURDON 2,645,419 ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING IIECHANISI FOR CALCULATING MACHINES July 14, 1953 16 Sheets-sheaf 13 Filed Pet. 2?. 1950 IVNVENTOP Robert Loh (Tour-don ATTORNEY y 4, 1953 R. L. GOURDON I 2,645,419

- ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Oct. :5, 1950 I 1 Sheets-Sheet 14 INVEQIT'OR Robert Le'on G-vurdau ATTORNEY R. L. GOURDON July 14, 1953 2,645,419

ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CAL CULATING MACHINES 16 She ets-Sheet 15 Filed Oct. 3, 1950 INVENTO? u v M: w m R o a w .u

y 1953 R. L. GOURDON ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES 16 Sheets-Sheet l6 Filed Oct. 3. 1950 l NVENTOR Robert bn. G m-do) ATTORNEY Patented July 14, 1953 ITEM AND TOTAL PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Robert Lon Gourdon, Paris, France, assignor to Societe Anonyme dite: Centre dEtudes M. B. A.,

Paris, France Application October 3, 1950, Serial No. 188,224 In France October 8, 1949 6 Claims.

board or similar means, and selector wheels or i drums are then brought into action to define the amplitude of the subsequent rotation of each of the digit-carrying cylinders or drums provided in the machine, and from which the amounts or items are then transferred to counters, dials and/ 1 or recording or printing means.

It is the main object of this invention to provide! a device adapted for use in a machine of the type just defined, for registering a series of partial amounts or items, and simultaneously and automatically totalizing the registered partial amounts in full, the values of the successivedigital orders (e. g. hundredths, tenth units, tens, hundreds, etc.) being simultaneously registered in a single operation.

The amounts or items thus registered and totalized may be recorded as by printing, or entered into a counter, or both.

My invention essentially provides a registering and totalizing device of the type described, which comprises two sets of coaxial toothed wheels each carrying upon its respective teeth digits from zero to nine, one set of wheels being controlled by the rotation of the digit-carrying cylinders of the calculating or other machine, while the second set of Wheels is controlled by the first set of wheels through the medium of a carry-over mechanism.

In addition to the essential characteristic just described, a device according to the invention may further include one or more of the following features:

(1) Each of the character-carrying toothed wheels of the first set (hereinafter termed partial item wheels) is secured on a tubular shaft coaxial and rotatable with a digit-carrying cylinder, all the tubular shafts being interfitted in one another.

(2) Each character-carrying toothed wheel of the second set (hereinafter termed total wheels) is disposed adjacent to the partial item r wheel pertaining to the same digital order as it, and is slightly smaller in diameter than said related partial item wheel adjacent to it.

(3) Each of the partial item wheels has its .zero character carried on a spring-blessed eccentrically-mounted ring, so as to be at all times urged radially inwardly of the wheel to a position depressed or retracted relatively to the remaining characters of said wheel, and latching means provided to counteract the spring action and keep the zero character on a common cylindrical enveloping surface with said remaining character of the wheel;

(4) The carry-over mechanism comprises a movable structure for each of the digital orders provided, said movable structure comprising a reciprocating carry-over conditioning member and a set of two integral gear p-inions each with as many gear teeth as the aforementioned character Wheels, and an oscillating frame common to all of said movable structures and adapted to effect the carry-over operations, said frame having the respective sets of pinions mounted for free rotation on it, the arrangement of said mechanism being such that:

(a) The first of the two integral pinions in each set is rotated by the partial item wheel of the corresponding digital order, while the second pinion of the set drives in its rotation the total wheel of the same digital order.

(1)) As the first of the integral pair of pinions in each set reaches an an ular position corresponding to an angular rotation of the corresponding partial item wheel equalling nine-tenths of a revolution from the origin (or zero) mark, it releases a spring element of the reciprocating member of the structure relating to the next higher digital order, said element then being interposed into the path of the reciprocating member of the movable structure relating to the next lower digital order.

(c) As the first of the integral pair of pinions in each set moves from its angular position corresponding to a rotation of the related partial amount wheel equalling nine-tenths of a revolution from the origin (or zero) mark to the angular position corresponding to an additional angular rotation equalling one-tenth of said wheel, it causes a displacement of the reciprocating member relating to the next higher order in one direction, said member being maintained in its displaced position and displacing in turn in the same direction the reciprocating member of the m0vable structure relating to the further next higher order, if the spring-element of the last-mentioned structure had already been interposed in the path of the reciprocating member of the structure corresponding to the next lower order, as previously described.

(d) On actuation of the oscillatory frame carrying the sets of integral pinions, the frame disengages the first of each set of pinions of those structures in which the reciprocating member was previously shifted as above from the partial amount wheel which was rotating said pinion until that point, and it causes engagement of a gear-toothed portion or" the thus-shifted reciprocatory member with the second pinion of the set, in order to rotate said second pinion by the amount of one additional tooth (i.'e. one-tenth of a revolution, this amount corresponding to the carry-over to be effected) this rotation being fully transmitted to the related total wheel.

(5) The reciprocatory member is in the form of a sliding plate or strip formed over part of its periphery with a partially toothed cut-out adapted, upon the strip being shifted in either of the two ways indicated above, to rotate by the amount of one tooth the second pinion of the related set which was previously brought into engage- I ment with said toothed portion by the actuation of the oscillatory frame common to all the movable structures.

(6) The cut-out mentioned in (5) is formed in its periphery with a shoulder against which a boss integral with the oscillatory frame is adapted to engage upon actuation of the frame, so as to maintain the related strip in its shifted condition throughout the period of engagement of its toothed portion with the pinion.

('7) The reciprocating strip is provided with a spring-loaded latch normally retained in idle condition but adapted, upon the strip being shifted either way, to block the strip in its shifted position.

(8) A re-set or clearin mechanism i provided for restoring the totalwheels to their initial positions after the sum total of a desired plurality of previously-registered partial items has been registered by the device, said re-set mechanism 1 comprising, for each of the digital orders considered, a pickup member adapted to be engaged by a projecting element of the first of the integral pairs of pinions of each set when driven by friction (in a direction reverse from its normal rotation) by the efiect of a rotation imparted to the shaft on which said sets of pinions are freely mounted, and said projection being retained in engagement against said pick-up member, causing a relative slippage of the related pair of pinions about its shaft until all of the sets of pinions thereon have been brought in a similar manner to a position in which their projections are all in engagement with said pick-up members; in this position, all of the total wheels have been restored to their initial angular positions, while still being each positively connected with the second pinion of the respectively related set of pinions.

(9) A further set of toothed wheels is provided in addition to the partial item and total wheels, each wheel of said further set each carrying a reference mark or index on each of its teeth, and said further wheels being controlled from indexcarrying cylinders or drums rather than from digit-carrying drums as were the first two sets of wheels.

(10) Sets of so-called check-strip printing wheels are further provided each carrying characters on each of its teeth for printing on a checking-strip. The check-print wheels are adapted to b rotated by the partial item wheels upon actuation of a suitable control means to disengage the driving connection leading from the partial item wheel to the drive connection leading to the carry-over mechanism, whereupon said partial item wheels can no longer actuate the first pinions of the carry-over mechanism structures.

(11) The partial item wheels are further adapted, upon disengagement of th drive-connections as mentioned in (10) to operate through a suitable transmission preferably including special clutch unit to be described, a device for registering the amounts or numbers into a credit counter.

(12) A latching mechanism is provided for blocking the partial item, total item, and contingently the check-strip printing wheels, and plac into suitable alignment those of the character-bearing teeth of th various wheels which are to make a printing impression.

(13) The said latching mechanism comprises a pair of spring-latches adapted to block simultaneously, under the effect of an appropriate control, either the total and partial item wheels together with the check-strip printing wheels, or separately and selectively at the requisite instants, the total wheels on the one hand, and the partial item and check-strip printing wheels on the other.

(14) Blocking of the total wheels alone may be effected by a special control operating in synchronism with the action exerted on the aforementioned control member for disconnecting the power transmission path leading from the partial item wheel, from the power-transmission path leading to the carry-over mechanism, thereby enabling direct printing on a checking strip to be accomplished.

(15) Blocking of the partial item and checkstrip printing wheels, and blocking of the total wheels, is effected by means of one or more sets of pivotal rollers displaceable in one direction to block successively all of said wheels one af or another, and adapted on further displacement in the said direction, to block only the partial item and check-strip printing wheels, and displaceable in the opposite direction to block only the total wheels.

(16) A connection is provided between the carryover reset mechanism and the above-mentioned latching mechanism to synchronize the unlatching of the total amount wheels with the re-set operation.

(1'7) The same latch member which serves to block all of the partial item wheels also serves to restore the zero character on each of the partial item wheels to its position upon the enveloping cylindrical surface of the other characters of the wheel.

(18) The partial item and total wheels, contingently also th check-strip printing wheels, are arranged to be capable of performing a printing operation by the application of one or more suitable strips or sheets of paper against a generatrix of the enveloping cylindrical surface of said wheels.

(19) Where the total wheels are in alternating relationship with the coaxial partial item wheels, as previously described, they are normally preventing from producing an impression since the diameter of the former is smaller than that of the latter; however, the retraction of the zerocharacters on the partial item wheels under the effect of an unlatching of these wheels after said Zeros have been aligned along the printing generatrix of the enveloping surface of said wheels, will then allow the total wheels to perform their printing operatings alone,

The strip(s) or sheet(s) of printing paper is (are) mounted on a pivotally mounted printing block adapted to apply it (them) against said printing generatrix of the partial item and total wheels and contingently the check-printing wheels, and comprising a movable inkin device adapted preliminarily to coat with ink the characters or reference marks carried by those teeth I of said wheels that are aligned with the printing generatrix.

(21) The printing strip or sheet is fed over the printing block past the printing wheels by a feed device adapted to feed the strip by. a variable amount in response to a variable amplitude control actuated by an appropriate control member.

(22) The variable amplitude control comprises a cam-sector having a toothed edge portion driven by the printing block and formed with a notch adapted to engage with a projection on a pivoted lever thereby imparting to said lever an angular rotation of controlled amplitude.

(23) Means are provided for cutting ofi the printing strip or sheet after printing. Said means may comprise a knife member adapted to be forced back into a slot formed in a platen disposed over said strip by a control mechanism actuated by a suitable control member.

(24) The knife-carrier member of the cutting device may also be made to carry plates adapted, upon actuation of the cutting mechanism, to firmly apply the strip to be cut off against one or more pads carrying date or other information to be printed. I

Means are provided for ejecting the strip portion thus printed and cut oil. Such means may comprise a drive roller adapted to rotate a gear pinion, and released for instance by the cutoff control mechanism when the latter is operatmg.

(26) Operation of the ejector means in addition to being synchronized with the operation of the cutting means, may further be synchronized with the operation of the inking means, which is then adapted to cook the ejector means, and said inking means being further synchronizable with the printing block lifting movement.

(27) All or part of the above-mentioned mechanisms and means may be controlled in timed relationship with one another from one or more camshafts carrying appropriate cams adapted to assure with accuracy the requisite sequence of steps, at the accurate instants at which each should start, and be completed.

The above and further objects and features of the invention will appear from the ensuing detailed description of one specific form of embodiment of a register and totalizer according to, the invention, including means for printing the amounts registered and/0r totalized. In the accompanying drawings:

Fi 1 is a perspective view of the assembly including the digit-carrying and the index-carrying cylinders, the printing wheels, the carryover mechanism, the general counterand sales counter-actuating levers, the power-transmission from the partial item printing wheels to the carryover mechanism, and the transmission from the carryover mechanism to the total printing wheels.

Fig. 2 is a similar view on an enlarged scale but showing exclusively the parts relating to a single digital order; however, as concerns the shafts of the various mechanisms, the shafts for all the digital orders have been shown.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, the plane of section passing reference-carrying cylinders and the printing wheels.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the carryover mechanism.

Fig. 7 'is a perspective View, with parts broken away and omitted for greater clarity, of two adjacent carryover mechanism assemblies relating to adjacent digital orders.

Fig. 8 is a similar view of the carry-over mechanism as a whole and some related parts, said mechanism being shown in its idle condition as resulting from the successive entry of a number of partial items.

Fig. 9 is a similar view corresponding to Fig. 8 i

but showing the carryover pinions rotated by an amount not greater than the angular'extent of one tooth.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but corresponding to the position of the mechanism at the end of the entry of a new amount into the carryover mechanism.

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Figs. 8 to 10, but further illustrating the frame of the carryover mechanism and the manner in which it operates during the carryover operation proper.

Fig. 12 is a similar view showing further the re-set mechanism.

Fig. 13 illustrates the drive of the carryover mechanism frame.

Fig. 14 shows the drive of the re-set mechanism.

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of the printing block. n

Fig. 16 is a section of the block on the vertical plane XVI-XVI of Fig. 15, and shows in particular the means for printing the heading of a priceslip.

Fig. 17 is a section of the printing block on vertical plane XVIIXVII of Fig. 15 and shows in particular the feed mechanism for the price-slip strip at the beginning of the feed movement.

Fig. 18 is a similar view but relates to the end of the feed period.

Fig. 19 is a section of the printing block on line XIX-XIX of Fig. 15 and shows in particular the means controlling the feed of the printing block proper and the means controlling the feed of the inking roll. I

Fig. 20 is a perspective view of the printing wheel blocking mechanism with someassociated parts, and V Fig. 21 is a timing chart for the operation of the device. 1

Taken as a whole, a calculating machine or a cash-register of the type to be described as embodying the features of the invention, comprises a tabulatin system selectively controlled from a keyboard or the like, a general driving system for imparting the requisite displacements to the various parts which are to be moved during a registering operation, various counters and transmission mechanism, in addition to the'particular mechanisms to be .described with greater detail as forming the peculiar subject matter of the present invention.

For a more detailed description of the other features of the machines, reference may be had of February 16, 1948, and No. 937,324 of March 8,

1948, all relating to a machine to which the present invention may be advantageously applied.

Among the means subjected to the action of the tabulating mechanism and the general driving system of the machine are the digit-carrying and reference-carrying cylinders, from which the amounts to be registered are transferred into the counters, dials and/or printing mechanism.

In Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings five digit-carrying cylinders are shown, numbered I to 5, which may be assumed as respectively cor responding to the tenths, units, tens, hundreds and thousands digital orders. Next come two reference-carrying cylinders and 1 respectively bearing accessory information, such as information adapted to identfy the nature of the transaction and the responsible salesman.

The digit-carrying cylinder I (see Fig. 5) is secured on a tubular shaft 9 surrounding an innermost shaft 8 and surrounded in turn by the successive tubular shafts Hi, H, i2, 53, Hi and i5 rotatable independently from one another. Each of the tubular shafts is rotatable with a digitcarrying or a reference-carrying cylinder. Thus the cylinder 2 is secured on shaft l6, cylinder 3 on shaft II, and so on, cylinder T being secured on shaft l5. An outermost tubular shaft IG surrounds the whole assembly of shafts E9 to 5 and serves as a support for freely-rotatable gear wheels 8! to be described presently. The digitcarrying or reference-carrying cylinders l to l are all assembled in a group at the right-hand end of the nest of tubular shafts. Mounted on the left-hand end of shaft 8 are seven toothed wheels serving to print items or numbers of the checking strip. These check-strip printer wheels are numbered I? to 23. The tubular shafts 9 to extend to points somewhat short of the wheels I! to 23 and their ends ar stepped as shown in Fig. 5. Keyed on the projecting end of shaft 9 is a wheel 26 for printing the tenths (and contingently hundredths) of partial items. Adjacent the wheel 24 is a wheel 38 for printing the tenths (and contingently hundredths) of a total amount. The wheel 3!. is freely rotatable on shaft 9 so that rotation of the tenths digit-carrying cylinder I will rotate only the wheel Similarly, secured on the projecting ends of each of the remaining tubular shafts in, ll, 12 and it are wheels 25, 26, 27 and 28 for printing the respective digital orders of the partial items corresponding to each of the said remaining tubular shafts. And adjacent to each of the wheels 25, 26, 27 and 28 and freely rotatable about the end of each of the shafts carrying said wheels, are freely-rotatable wheels 3!, 32, 33 and 34 which perform functions similar to that of the wheel and which likewise handle the total amounts.

Mounted for free rotation on the tubular shaft 13 and adjacent the free wheel 3 is a second free wheel 35 the sole function of which is to print on the slip handed to the purchaser adjacent to the printed totals (e. g. to print as a total the tenthousands digit obtained by the carry-over operation).

The wheels 24 to 28 comprise the partial item wheels, and the wheels 30 to 35 are the total wheels.

With the reference-carrying cylinders 6 and 1 respectively correspond wheels 29 and 38 secured on the tubular shafts I4 and [5. The operation of these reference wheels is substantially the same as that of the partial and total amount wheels, except that they do not involve any carryover operations.

-t will be observed that the wheels 24, 25, 25, 21, 28, 29 and 36, each secured on its individual tubular shaft, are slightly greater in diameter than the wheels 30, SI, 32, 33, 34 and 35, each rotatable on its tubular shaft. This peculiarity will be referred to in greater detail later on.

It is further noted that the wheels 25 and 31 of the units order are somewhat longer than the others, on account of the decimal point between the unit and tenths orders. The same applies to the thousands wheels 28 and 34 because of the comma between the thousands and hundreds.

Grouped about the assembly 37 including the shafts 8 to 16 are the various co-operating mechanisms participating in th printing and carry-over operations and more generally in the registering of the tabulated amounts. The general arrangement of these mechanisms in relation to the assembly 37 will now be briefly described.

Shown at 38 (Fig. 1) i the transmission which assures printing of the amounts on the checking strip. At 39 is the transmission from the partial item wheels to the carry-over mechanism, the latter shown at 48. The mechanism l0 drives the total wheels through a transmission 41. Between the latter and transmission 39 and above the printing wheels is located a printing-wheel blocking mechanism (not shown in Fig. 1) shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. l.

Below the carry-over mechanism 42 are L-levers 42 which transmit the amounts being registered to the general counter and the sales counters. Below the printing wheels is the printing block I5! (Fig. 15). To the rear of and below the transmission ll and the carry-over mechanism M) lies part of the general driving system of the machine. And above and slightly forward of transmission 39 is a mechanical connection including pinions 6 and i9 (Fig. 3) and leading to the credit counter, for automatically printing the sales made on credit.

Each of the mechanisms referred to above will now be described in fuller detail. The printing wheels H to '33, which are the check-strip printer wheels, each comprise a number of equal teeth some of which, regularly spaced from one another, carry the successive printing type characters from O to 9, as shown in Fig. 2 in the case of th printing wheel ll.

The partial item wheels E i-28 and total wheels 3G3i have their periphery divided, as shown in the cas of total wheel 34 in Fig. 4, into ten equal sectors each marked by a tooth bearing one of the characters from zero to nine. These characters of course follow one another in the natural digital order.

Only on the partial item wheels, the zero character designated by the reference 53 is not carried by the wheel itself, but by a ring M surrounding the tubular shaft (e. g. shaft 13) upon which the particular partial amount wheel considered, 28 in the instanc described, is mounted.

The ring 44 is internally eccentric as shown at 45 in Fig. 4, so as to be movable along the direction of that diameter which extends through the Zero digit. At the opposite end of this diameter there is a lug 46 cut out from the material of ring 44 and bent at right angles to the plane of the ring, said lug projecting into a notch 41 formed in the wheel 38 under consideration. To each side of the lug 48 two bosses 48, 49 are 

